Tennessee RV Park Goes on Auction Block

A 211-acre RV resort in Tennessee’s Hardeman County, 50 miles east of Memphis, will soon hit the auction block.

Bill Caller, principal auctioneer with Crye-Leike Commercial Auction Services, will host an auction for Big Buck Resort off U.S. 64 in Hornsby, Tenn., Nov. 10 at 10 a.m. The minimum bid is $500,000 – and the property was appraised last year for $2 million, the Memphis Daily News reported.

“We have it priced at $500,000, mainly to send a strong message to buyers, saying, ‘Come buy it,’” Caller said. “This is not a distressed property, it’s not a vacant property, it’s not a property that’s facing foreclosure or underperforming. We’re hoping to find a user, buyer or investor who can come in and buy a property like this at a very low basis point.”

The property was previously listed with Crye-Leike’s Charlie Callis for about a year for $2.25 million, including personal property. He was marketing the resort for a church user.

Caller said the Big Buck Resort’s highest and best use is as an RV resort or related outdoors/retreat type of business. He’s advertising nationally to RV resorts, deer hunting, equestrian and related industries, and has listed the auction on more than 100 different websites.

There are 425 members that pay an annual membership of $400 each. Amenities include a pool, clubhouse, skeet shooting range, target range, deer skinning cooler and private treatment plant that will service up to 1,000 homes.

“It’s an active business, so they’re buying the business too,” Caller said. “It’s right for a special person to come in and build up the membership, possibly attain some more lease land for hunting for the members that like to do that, and be a hands-on type owner.”

Caller said the property’s 2012 profit and loss statement is coming in at around $90,000 in net operating income. If someone bought it at its minimum bid of $500,000 plus the required 10% buyer’s premium, the capitalization rate on the $550,000 total would be 16%.

“That’s a very good investment, even at the minimum,” he said.

He said Big Buck’s owners, who bought the park as an investment, are motivated to expedite the sale for personal reasons, which is rare in the auction business.

“This is just a situation where they’ve decided that they have some things coming up that are going to take 100% of their attention, and they don’t want to deal with it anymore. They’re ready to let it go,” Caller said. “Normally, (auctions are due to) time (restraints), financial or combination of both needs. Something is motivating them to want to move quickly and not rely on the market to produce a buyer. This is a property that’s outside the box, so to speak.”